The invention generally relates to a technique and apparatus to deploy a perforating gun and a sand screen in a well.
A conventional technique to complete a particular interval of a well may include running a perforating gun downhole to perforate the interval. After the perforating is complete, the perforating gun may be disposed by repositioning the gun away from the perforated interval; retrieving the gun to the surface of the well; or dropping the gun in a rathole, which is not an option in a horizontal wellbore. The perforating typically is then followed by sand screen deployment and gravel packing in the interval.
In this regard, a typical well may produce particulates called “sand,” and therefore, a filtering substrate called “gravel” typically is used in the well to filter sand from the produced well fluid. In a gravel packing operation, the gravel is introduced in an annular region between the exterior of a sand screen and the formation. The sand screen is a tubular and porous member that is typically deployed in the well to support the gravel substrate and provide an inner space to receive the filtered well fluid, which is communicated to the surface of the well via a production tubing string. The perforating, sand screen deployment and gravel packing operations conventionally require multiple runs, or trips, into the well.
Each trip into a well involves considerable cost and time. Thus, there exists a continuing need to minimize the number of trips into a well for purposes of completing the well.